Brendan Duddy has died

Kevin Mullan

The late Mr. Duddy, who is reported to have worked with MI6 and the IRA to end the Troubles, started out as a fish and chips shop proprietor in the 1960s but extended his interests into retail and hospitality over the decades.

In 2008 journalist Peter Taylor made a film about Mr. Duddy's role in the end of the IRA campaign, called 'The Secret Peacemaker.'

The companies he founded famously controlled several well-known Londonderry businesses, which included Foster's, The Strand Bar, Rafters and Glendenning's, over time.